In general, conventional digital communication systems include a baseband subsystem in which received signals are demodulated and transmitted signals are modulated. Demodulators in baseband subsystems have been implemented using an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a digital signal processor (DSP) or combination thereof. However, known demodulator implementations suffer from significant drawbacks.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional implementation of a spread-spectrum demodulator 10. The demodulator 10 includes a combiner 12 that combines symbols received from Fingers 1, 2, through Finger N (hereinafter referred collectively as fingers 14). Fingers 14 are instantiations of hardware logic for each multi-path processing entity, or “path.” The combiner 12 de-skews or aligns in time the symbols from the fingers 14 and adds the symbols together to form an estimate of the transmitted symbol value. Once steady-state is reached, an output of the combiner 12 occurs synchronously with the symbol reception at the antenna.
Demodulator 10 has several disadvantages. For example, several disadvantages in using the demodulator 10 result from the synchronous processing based on clock signal from a master timer 16. Another disadvantage is that the demodulator 10 uses multiple, static instantiations of the fingers 14. The number of fingers 14 is selected based on the worst-case channel condition possible, representing the largest possible number of gates needed. To support more and more multi-path signals and to be compatible with advanced wireless techniques such as MIMO (multiple input multiple output antennas), current conventional architectures have been instantiating more and more fingers. More fingers require more power.
Another disadvantage of the demodulator 10 is a slow assignment or de-assignment of fingers 14, thereby wasting power. Turning on and off fingers 14 via assignment and de-assignment is a relatively slow process. As a result, there is a significant lag between a path dying and a finger shutting off. This results in higher power consumption with no corresponding gain in performance.
Yet another disadvantage of the demodulator 10 results from the use of a clock with the fingers 14 and the fact that the fingers 14 operate in parallel. All of the fingers 14 are synchronized based on a clock signal, regardless of whether a specific finger is used (assigned) and for how long it is used. A clocked finger, even when de-assigned, still consumes considerable power.
Even when a finger is assigned and demodulating a strong, needed path, it is still being clocked at a rate greatly in excess of the rate that useful output is being produced. As such, power is wasted. In general, clock buffers use ⅓ of device power, even if no useful processing is performed.
Yet another drawback to the demodulator 10 is the design of static bit widths, which are set for worst-case operation. This design causes excessive power consumption when the full number of bits is not required for demodulation. Most of the time, fewer bits are actually needed.
Another drawback to the demodulator is that its construction makes a MIMO solution costly and ineffective from a power standpoint. In the case of Multiple Outputs (MO), the number of fingers must be doubled to achieve the intended diversity effect. For Multiple Input (MI) techniques, such as STS and STTD, a multiplier must be added to each finger and all fingers are forced to always process both incoming antenna streams. This inefficiency results in more fingers, which only magnifies the power problems discussed above.
Thus, there is a need to reduce circuit complexity, gate count, and power consumption by using a single demodulation element that is capable of demodulating multi-path spread spectrum signals in an optimum manner. Further, there is a need to provide an improved method of demodulating multi-path signals. Further still, there is a need for a buffering method and apparatus for processing digital communication signals. Yet further, there is a need to have common circuitry for both transmit and receive operations in a digital communication system.